Death of a Unicorn review

DEATH OF A UNICORN: 

IN THE TRADITION OF CHAOTIC, SURREAL A24 PROJECTS…HERE’S ANOTHER ONE! 

By Nico Beland

Movie Review: *** ½ out of 4

A24

Paul Rudd in Death of a Unicorn

 

            Paul Rudd (Anchorman 1 and 2, The Perks of Being a Wallflower, Marvel Cinematic Universe) goes from pint-sized Avenger to a man who accidentally killed a unicorn in Death of a Unicorn, the latest film from A24 and the directorial debut of Alex Scharfman. There was a lot of buzz surrounding this movie when it was in-production and especially when the trailer came out which looked absolutely bonkers; even I didn’t know what to make of the film when it was being advertised. 

            Well, now that the film has been released and reactions have been…interesting to say the least, what’s my take on Death of a Unicorn? Honestly, I fucking loved this movie! 

            Objectively, it’s not one of the best films of the year and its bizarre premise and tone probably won’t win everyone over. But I was entertained throughout, laughed out loud, and was invested enough in the story and characters that I wanted to know where it was going. 

            The film follows father and daughter, Elliot (Rudd) and Ridley (Jenna Ortega-Wednesday, Scream 5 and 6, Beetlejuice Beetlejuice) spending a weekend at the estate of his boss, the ailing Odell Leopold (Richard E. Grant-Hudson Hawk, Logan, Ready or Not) and his family. But when Elliot and Ridley accidentally hit and kill what appears to be a unicorn with their car, it causes them to be hunted down by its parents who are extremely pissed off. 

            However, it also turns out the unicorn they killed has magic healing powers that can cure cancer among other things and the wealthy Leopold family tries to fight to sell this miracle cure before the supply runs out. I’m sure Elon Musk would do the exact same thing if it meant more money! 

            The film also stars Téa Leoni (The Family Man, Jurassic Park III, Spanglish) in her first film role since 2011’s Tower Heist as Odell’s wife Belinda Leopold, Will Poulter (We’re the Millers, Maze Runner trilogy, Guardians of the Galaxy: Vol. 3) as Odell’s son Shepard Leopold, Anthony Carrigan (The Forgotten, Gotham, Bill & Ted Face the Music) as Griff, Jessica Hynes (Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Paddington 2) as Shaw, Sunita Mani (Mr. Robot, Everything Everywhere All at Once, You Hurt My Feelings) as Dr. Bhatia, and Steve Park (Fargo, Snowpiercer, Mickey 17) as Dr. Song. 

            Overall, Death of a Unicorn joins Beau is Afraid and Y2K as one of the most chaotic films A24 has put out. However, there is one huge difference between this and a film like Y2K and that being, I actually gave a shit about the characters here. 

            They aren’t the best written or the most endearing characters in cinema, but I was invested in Paul Rudd and Jenna Ortega’s characters, both of which have very likable chemistry and I enjoyed seeing them interact with each other. It’s already a step up from Y2K where I didn’t care for a single character in that film. 

            Téa Leoni, Will Poulter, and Richard E. Grant are a lot of fun as this cartoonishly evil wealthy family that’s trying to make money off the unicorn’s magic that you ultimately want to see them get their gory comeuppance by the end. Will Poulter in particularly hams it up like mad in this movie and he is having a ball chewing the scenery thus so am I while watching him. 

            I also really like the fact this movie keeps the unicorns’ origin vague to the point where it’s almost non-existent. This is a world where people realize that unicorns are real and that’s it, it doesn’t hammer in exposition or backstories as to where they came from because in true A24 fashion, audiences can accept the strange and abstract and that’s what this is. 

            The movie gets very creative with its people getting killed by unicorns scenes (Which is certainly a sentence I just wrote) and pretty much becomes a slasher movie as it goes on. A group of people trapped in a house in the middle of the night and two angry unicorns are the killers, very familiar set-up, but it does lead to some over-the-top and entertainingly gory kills. 

            Death of a Unicorn fully embraces its bizarre premise and offers a surreal and wild detour from traditional cinema fare that’s heightened by its cast and bombastic absurdity. If you got a thing for the strange and unusual then take a blood-drenched flight with these unicorns right now or Princess Celestia will fucking kill you.